More commercials you probably haven’t seen

I still don’t understand the concept of holiday long-form commercials in England. McDonald’s UK released their annual holiday advert, concerning the Fancy a McDonald’s this Christmas?. And the short answer is, No, no thank you. At least the Amazon commercial is only a minute this year. I still can’t imagine Americans sitting for more thanContinue reading “More commercials you probably haven’t seen”

The beat went on for one last time

November 13, 1987 –Sonny & Cher were guests on NBC’s Late Night with David Letterman and after a short interview the pair agreed to sing I Got You Babe for a delighted audience, on this date. Clearly extremely comfortable with one another, the divorced pair happily sang together and couldn’t hide their glee and theyContinue reading “The beat went on for one last time”

Tonight’s The Night premiered

November 11, 1976 –Rod Stewart’s Tonight’s The Night, with some French cooing by his girlfriend Britt Ekland, hits #1 in America for the first of eight weeks. The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section played on this song. They were a group of four musicians who started their own studio – Muscle Shoals Sound – in 1969Continue reading “Tonight’s The Night premiered”

Most religions have a festival of lights

Today is Diwali, one of the biggest and brightest of all the Hindu celebrations. An ancient festival celebrating the triumph of light over dark and good over evil; the day is also significant in other religions including Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. Diwali is derived from the Sanskrit word, “deepawali”, meaning “row of lights”. The dayContinue reading “Most religions have a festival of lights”

We all went to Sugar Mountain for the first time

November 12, 1964 –On his 19th birthday, Neil Young wrote Sugar Mountain, where he reflects on his fleeting youth (“You can’t be 20 on Sugar Mountain“), the first formal release was a recording of the song made on November 10, 1968. Joni Mitchell’s The Circle Game was inspired by this song. As she explained toContinue reading “We all went to Sugar Mountain for the first time”

Slumdog Millionaire opened

November 12, 2008 –Danny Boyle’s international hit, Slumdog Millionaire, starring Dev Patel and Freida Pinto went into limited release in the US on this date. Longiness Fernandes was the choreographer of the dance sequence set to the song Jai Ho, which is played during the end credits. But his name was inadvertently left out inContinue reading “Slumdog Millionaire opened”

Ab Fab premiered on the BBC

November 12, 1992 – The screamingly funny TV comedy Absolutely Fabulous, written by Jennifer Saunders, starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley first aired on the BBC on this date. The inspiration for casting Joanna Lumley as Patsy came from a sketch on The Full Wax. There, Ruby Wax interviewed Lumley, where the actress (who hadContinue reading “Ab Fab premiered on the BBC”